Imagine this:

You’re on your way to a remote archeological summer camp when you discover it has been canceled.    You step off the train to use your cell phone and figure out your next step only to have the train pull away leaving you stranded and without any of your belongings.

Meanwhile…

Your parents are sailing around the Caribbean with a sketchy itinerary and a missing cell phone.

Meanwhile…

Your grandpa who is house/dog-sitting for your family has hit his head and is suffering from selective amnesia.

What’s your next step?

If you’re Ry, you will stumble upon a kind, eccentric and slightly crazy man who will offer to drive you cross country to find grandpa and if that doesn’t work he’ll take you to Miami to catch a homemade plane to San Juan and then sail you to an island where your parents may (or may not) be.

As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth is an awesome book.  The plot moves quickly, the characters are quirky, and the prose is gorgeous.  I have a strong feeling that this book will end up being my most often and highly recommended new teen title.

Last year’s favorite chronicled another bizarre road trip…

Cameron is your average teenage loner/stoner.  He floats through life with as little effort as possible and a minimum of emotion…until he contracts Creutzfeldt Jakob (aka Mad Cow) disease.  After being diagnosed Cameron goes on a whirlwind fever-dream of a road trip with the help of a pink haired, glittery angel, a death-obsessed dwarf, and a viking god in the guise of a yard gnome.  Need I say more?

Going Bovine is a beautiful, stunning, extraordinary novel that made me laugh and cry and fall in love with the act of reading over and over again.  Don’t miss it.

~ Tricia is the teen librarian at CPL.  She is ECSTATIC that it is autumn in New England!  Apple picking, sweatshirts, football, foliage, and reading outside in the crisp fall air under a nice, warm sun.